ASU Bowling Goes 5-0 on Day Two of Mid-Winter Invitational

JONESBORO, Ark. (ASU) – The Arkansas State women's bowling team was able to go 5-0 on day two of the Mid-Winter Invitational, but the Red Wolves were not able to move up from sixth place and earned the sixth seed for tournament play Sunday.

A-State started out the day with a victory over Elmhurst College 977-793 and after that were able to take down the number one team in the nation, Central Missouri, 956-888. The Red Wolves continued their winning ways with wins over Alabama State (969-947) and Alabama A&M (985-927) before facing off against No. 3 Vanderbilt. ASU was able to defeat the Commodores in an epic match 1,072-1,049.

"It was great to get a couple of wins against two highly ranked teams," ASU bowling coach Justin Kostick said. "We just didn't have the big games we needed to overtake anyone in pinfall. We still have room for improvement and need to get better in that regard."

A-State couldn't find a way to knock down enough pins to move from sixth place and ended the day there. Arkansas State's total pinfall is at 9,827 going into day three. Central Missouri is still on top with a 10,229 pinfall total. No. 6 Nebraska jumped to second place with 10,043 pins and are followed by No. 3 Vanderbilt (9,974), No. 9 Wisconsin-Whitewater (9,868), and Stephen F. Austin (9,851).

The Red Wolves also placed two people on the all-tournament team, including tournament MVP sophomore Sarah Lokker. Lokker finished with a total of 1,136 pins and bowled a 279 in the final match of the day to overtake the five bowlers in front of her. Senior Rachael Gittings also earned a spot on the all-tournament team with a total of 1,091 pins.

"I'm very proud of Sarah and Rachael," Kostick added. "They had really good days today and Sarah bowled a great game against Vanderbilt at the end to jump to the top."

The Red Wolves record for the tournament now stands at 8-2 and will be the sixth seed going into the bracket portion of the tournament. Competition will begin at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Jonesboro Bowling Center.